For as long as Chanyeol could remember, his best friend had been neck deep in the occult world. Baekhyun was fascinated by weird antique shops and sketchy, dusty books detailing every paranormal being one could think of, and he often got himself and others (namely, Chanyeol) into trouble because of it.

Now, Chanyeol himself was not an avid fan, but Baekhyun had a way of sweeping him into a fantastical world and planting ridiculous theories in his brain, such as the notion that their mutual friend, Do Kyungsoo, was either possessed or a demon. A completely baseless theory, one that Chanyeol had actually scoffed at when it was first presented to him, but one that stuck in his head nonetheless and made normal interactions with Kyungsoo very difficult.

He suddenly remembers getting called out for staring at Kyungsoo weirdly the other day and physically cringes, mentally damning Baekhyun.

Much to his chagrin, his brain helpfully begins to supply a comprehensive list of every awkward and embarrassing situation Baekhyun has landed him in for the past few years, and some of the events are so traumatizing he momentarily forgets the key code to his own apartment. Fortunately, he’s able to gather his wits fairly quickly and punches the code into the keypad.

Chanyeol balances three fast food bags in his arms as he edges his way through the front door, shutting the door behind him with his foot. His shoes are kicked off and his wallet is discarded, leaving him free to sprint to his kitchen with food in tow.

He’s excited and extremely hungry when he unpacks the first burger, only to be greatly disappointed upon realizing the employee serving him forgot to add any condiments, rendering his burger a bland, essentially sandwich. Utterly shocked, it takes a few moments before he remembers to check his own fridge for condiments, and lo and behold, he discovers a bottle of ketchup.

Congratulating himself on doing the groceries like a responsible young man in his early 20s, he shakes up the bottle carefully before squeezing its contents onto his burger in an arbitrary fashion. He starts with a triangle and lays another triangle on top of it, except this one is upside down. Quite happy with how his impromptu art piece turned out, he sets down the ketchup bottle and places the top bun back onto the burger, ready to feast.

In hindsight, what happened next was completely crazy and a hundred percent not Chanyeol’s fault. If anything, it could all be traced back to Byun Baekhyun, his eccentric talisman-collecting, demon loving of a best friend.

Because when one is trying to enjoy a nice burger, a demon materializing in your apartment is probably the least pleasant thing that could occur.

“Mornin’.”

Chanyeol lets out the ugliest shriek that has ever been heard when he turns around and comes face to face with eyes so black it felt like he was witnessing what nothing truly looked like. The curled, menacing looking horns protruding from his head didn’t help the situation either, but it was the teeth that did him in.

(He briefly hears the demon introduce himself as “Minseok” or something before he completely blacks out.)

When he wakes up, he’s lying on the floor of his kitchen, still clutching his burger between his hands, with a cute (and most importantly, normal looking) boy standing above him. The boy tilts his head and raises an eyebrow.

“Are you okay?”

“Uhhh….” Very intelligent, Chanyeol, he applauds himself sarcastically. “Where did the creepy eyes and horns go?” Stupid, stupid! He’s going to kill you.

The demon reaches up to touch his head unconsciously, fingers ghosting over where his horns previously sat.

“You seemed pretty scared, so I decided to nix the supernatural look. Why? Was that not the case?” Minseok’s eyes flash black and a pair of wings unfurl behind him, tendrils of black dust curling around his head, and Chanyeol screams again.

“No! Please! I’m sorry! Please don’t kill me, I’m sorry I summoned you! I didn’t know I could do that! I was just trying to put ketchup on my burger!” Chanyeol babbles some more before the demon silences him with a wave of a finger.

“Ketchup, huh? ..Unconventional.”

Chanyeol nods furiously, unable to part his lips. The demon sort of glides closer to him (maybe they didn’t know how to walk?) and Chanyeol is positive he’s about to die and that he should probably be a lot more responsive than he is, but dying with a nice burger in hand has always been his preferred way to go, even though said burger was the thing that got him into this situation in the first place.

But instead of raining fury and darkness down upon him, the demon simply starts laughing, and if Chanyeol were to be completely honest it was kind of cute. He was still scared less, but also weirdly attracted to this human-not-human. He mentally slaps himself in the face.

Get a grip, you weirdo.

Minseok s his lips with a fluid gesture and Chanyeol scrambles to his feet, an odd surge of pride running through him when he discovers he’s taller.

“So…since I summoned you..” He stops to take a bite of the burger. It’s delicious. “Are we like…together?”

“Only if you want to be.” Minseok snaps his fingers and a contract materializes in his hands, complete with a very large feathered pen. He wags the pen in Chanyeol’s face, and it’s snatched up surprisingly quickly.

“If I sign this, you’re mine?”

“Long story short, but yeah..”

The moment Chanyeol finishes scrawling his name on the paper, it and the pen blink itself out of existence. He grins down at Minseok, who’s looking like the equivalent of a deer in headlights.

“What’s wrong, Minseok?”

“You..didn’t even read what it said.”

“Oh. Was it important?”

“Look, I understand you’re eager to start planning revenge, but don’t you think—“

“Whoa whoa! Wait! I’m not planning to get revenge on anyone!”

Minseok’s lips press themselves into a thin line and his eyes darken.

“So I was summoned and contracted for nothing, and now I’ll have to stay here until you find a purpose for me?!”

Chanyeol scratches his head and offers an apologetic shrug.

“Well…I have burgers, if you’re hungry.”

***

“Your new boyfriend is cute,” Baekhyun comments. Beside him, Chanyeol grins into his drink. They’re perched on the couch, watching Kyungsoo and Minseok carry on a pleasant conversation.

“He’s adorable,” Chanyeol agrees.

“He looks like he’s getting along well with our little demon friend.”

“Kyungsoo’s not a demon,” Chanyeol rolls his eyes.

“You never know,” Baekhyun insists. “Speaking of demons, anything strange happen recently?”

Chanyeol lowers his drink to eye Baekhyun suspiciously.

“Why?”

Baekhyun purses his lips, tapping his fingers on the rim of his cup. He lets out a slightly nervous laugh, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

“Dunno. I may or may not have left one of my new, complicated and unfinished summoning circles lying around…”

Chanyeol balks.

“You mean that wasn’t a connect the dots activity sheet?!”

Baekhyun stares at him incredulously.

“You mean you finished it?!” He practically pounces on top of his friend. “Did it work?! Have you seen any demons recently?”

“What the hell, man!” Chanyeol shoves him onto the other side of the couch, wailing. “You can’t just leave your crap around here like that!”

“Okay, sorry, but seriously—did it work?”

Chanyeol manages to restrain himself from sneaking a glance at Minseok.

“No! Of course it didn't work!”

Baekhyun sinks back into the couch with a pout.

“Dammit. I really thought I had it this time.”

Chanyeol coughs three times and they resume sipping at their beverages until Kyungsoo wanders into the kitchen and Minseok makes his way over to the pair with a grin.

“Hey, you two. How are the drinks?”

“Perfect,” Chanyeol says, lifting his up in a toast.

“Great. So, Baekhyun, I hear you’re into demons?”

Baekhyun sits up immediately, setting his drink down on the coffee table.

“Yeah! I’ve been studying that stuff since I was a little kid.”

“Have you ever seen one?”

“No, not yet..” He sighs. “I’m working on it, though!”

“Well..” Minseok tilts his head. “How would you like to see a real demon?”

“Huh?”

Minseok blinks, his eyes pooling with darkness, and he lunges across the table with a grin that shows all his rows of teeth. It’s the last thing Baekhyun sees before he passes out on Chanyeol’s couch.

Minseok is back to normal by the time a disgruntled Kyungsoo lugs an unconscious Baekhyun out of the apartment, and Chanyeol bursts into laughter the moment the door is shut. The demon goes for a high-five, but in his excitement Chanyeol scoops him off his feet instead, swinging him around.

When they finish celebrating and Chanyeol sets Minseok down, an unpleasant thought that had been lurking in the back of his mind floats to the surface. Suddenly nervous, he twists his contract ring around on his finger.

“..Since we got Baekhyun back, does this mean you’re gonna leave now?”

Minseok blinks up at him.

“If you want me to. But according to my sources, you’ve got about fifteen years worth of grievances to pay back.”

A smile splits across Chanyeol’s face and he can’t help but sweep Minseok off his feet once more.